Tag: Greg Clarke

The English Football Association are expected to outsource their recruitment of Greg Clarke’s successor as chairperson and will finalise their hiring process in the coming days with the aim of making a relatively quick appointment, sources have confirmed

Clarke’s sudden resignation on Tuesday evening following his use of a racist term when giving evidence to a Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee earlier in the day has left the English football’s governing body without a figurehead at a key time.

The 63-year-old referred to “coloured footballers,” stereotyped south Asians and Afro-Carribean people as possessing “different career interests” and described homosexuality as a “life choice” during a hearing designed to examine why the game had collectively failed to agree a financial rescue package for the lower leagues.

A statement from FA chief-executive Mark Bullingham released on Wednesday read: “We are committed to playing a lead role in actively enhancing equality and diversity across English football, whilst steadfastly challenging and tackling all forms of discrimination.”

Although Peter McCormick has been named as interim chairperson, the Harrogate lawyer is not considered a candidate for the role on a permanent basis and the FA are keen to make an appointment that will be able to robustly represent the organisation in key discussions around the restructuring of English football in the short and long term.

According to reports, the FA are in the midst of finalising the best process to identify the best candidates while following their own code of conduct recommendations. There is a sense of urgency around making an appointment, according to sources, but also a recognition the process must not be rushed.

The FA also outsourced the recruitment process for Martin Glenn’s replacement as chief executive, firstly using head-hunter agency Odgers before engaging Spencer Stuart — only to later decide to promote internal candidate Bullingham at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Bullingham was expected to make a statement on Clarke’s departure later on Wednesday afternoon and the FA are set to clarify their hiring procedures in another public statement once finalised.

No shortlist has yet been drawn up but several high-profile figures are believed to be interested in the position including Baroness Sue Campbell, the director of women’s football at the FA, and the organisation’s Inclusion Advisory Board chairman Paul Elliott.

Elliott is also thought to be a leading contender to replace Clarke as England’s vice-president representative at FIFA.

Football Association chairman Greg Clarke apologised on Tuesday for using a racist phrase at a parliamentary committee hearing about the future of English football.

Asked why there isn’t an openly gay men’s footballer at the elite level in England, Clarke said, “The answer is I don’t know, right, because I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people from the LGBT community. I’ve talked to LGBT athletes from other sports who have come out.

“The views I’ve heard is if I look at what happens to high-profile female footballers, high-profile coloured footballers and the abuse they take on social media.”

Clarke was appearing at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee gathering to discuss the lack of progress in conversations between the Premier League, English Football League and the FA aimed at agreeing on a financial package to help all 92 clubs survive the ongoing revenue drop caused by COVID-19.

Members of Parliament also used the opportunity to tackle a series of wider issues including the lack of minority ethnic representation in boardrooms and insufficient funding for women’s and grassroots football.

Members of Parliament also used the opportunity to tackle a series of wider issues including the lack of minority ethnic representation in boardrooms and insufficient funding for women’s and grassroots football.

Clarke apologised and said that he sometimes trips over his words because he worked in the U.S. for many years, where he used the term “people of colour.”

Clarke had outlined at length how the FA were tackling issues of diversity and inclusion in English football and recognised the importance of the problems in lengthy, detailed answers.

But his evidence was littered with further clumsy language, stereotyping Asian people while also claiming a coach told him that young girls do not like the ball being kicked at them.

“If you go to the IT department at the FA, there’s a lot more South Asians than there are Afro Caribbeans,” he said during one answer. “They have different career interests.”

The FA released a statement shortly after the hearing concluded. “Greg Clarke is deeply apologetic for the language he used to reference members of the ethnic minority community during the select committee hearing today,” the statement read. “He acknowledged that using the term ‘coloured’ is not appropriate and wholeheartedly apologised during the hearing.”